Beginner’s Guide to Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined

Welcome to the world of Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined. You’re about to embark on one of the most epic and heartfelt journeys in JRPG history, now beautifully rebuilt with a unique diorama art style that makes every island feel like a tiny, living world. The adventure is massive, but don’t let that intimidate you. This guide is here to help you set sail with confidence, offering essential tips for combat, exploration, and mastering the game’s deep systems—all while keeping the story’s magic intact.

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First Steps: Finding Your Way

Your adventure begins on the peaceful island of Estard. The core of Dragon Quest VII is a journey of restoration: you’ll collect mysterious Tablet Fragments to travel to the past and save islands from disappearing, piece by piece. This structure can occasionally leave you wondering, “Where do I go next?” Luckily, the Reimagined version has several tools to keep you on track.

If You’re Stuck, Try This…	How It Helps
Check Your Map	Open the map screen—it will display your current main objective, giving you a general direction.
Talk to Your Party	Press the designated button to have your party members chat. They’ll often remind you of recent story events or suggest where to investigate next.
Visit the Shrine of Mysteries	Speak with The Caretaker at the Shrine. He’ll provide hints on where to find the next tablet pieces you need.
Don’t Rush Dialogue	Some conversations offer choices that can grant you small bonuses. Take your time to read and pick the best option.

Mastering the Art of Battle

Combat is classic turn-based, but it has a few modern twists. Here’s how to get the upper hand.

A Key Early-Game Combo
Before you unlock the deep vocation system, you can still chain powerful attacks. A fantastic early-game strategy is to use the Hero’s Aqua Slash followed by Kiefer’s Lightning Slash. Aqua Slash has a chance to lower the enemy’s resistance to lightning, making the subsequent Lightning Slash hit much harder. Also, don’t forget to use buffs like Oomphle to boost your party’s damage output.

Adjust the Game to Your Liking
Reimagined offers incredible flexibility to tailor the challenge. You don’t have to suffer through tedious grinding. In the settings menu, you can independently adjust:

• Gold and EXP Earned: Bump these up to reduce grinding.
• Vocation Proficiency Gain: Increase this to master jobs faster.
• Damage Dealt and Received: Make the game easier or harder with a simple slider.
• Enemy Encounters: You can even disable random encounters on the world map if you just want to explore.

Battle Speed and Tactics
You can adjust the battle speed to your preference, making fights snappy or giving you more time to think. The game also features an auto-battle system with customizable tactics for each character (like “Show No Mercy” or “Focus on Healing”). This is great for random encounters, but for tough boss fights, it’s best to switch back to manual control to make every move count.

Don’t Hoard Your MP
A common habit in older JRPGs is to conserve MP for boss fights, using only basic attacks in dungeons. In Reimagined, you can be more liberal with your spells. The game frequently places healing statues or triggers story events that fully restore your party right before a major boss, so feel free to use your magic to clear regular enemies efficiently.

Hunt for “Vicious” Enemies
Keep an eye out for enemies that are a different color than usual. These are Vicious Enemies, tougher variants of normal monsters. Defeating them is challenging, but they almost always drop very useful accessories that can give your party a significant boost.

Exploration and Useful Abilities

As you explore the past and present, you’ll meet new party members who bring unique skills to the table. One of the most helpful is Ruff.

• Use Ruff’s “Nose for Treasure” Constantly: Once Ruff joins your party, he gains the Nose for Treasure ability. Map this to a shortcut button immediately. Using it will reveal how many hidden treasures are in your immediate area—and when you’re on the world map, it will highlight all the collectables, like Mini Medals, on the entire island.
• Collect Everything: Talk to the Attendant in Estard Castle early on to get the Medal Handbook, which tracks your progress in finding Mini Medals hidden throughout the world. Trade these in for amazing prizes. You’ll also want to collect every key you find, as they unlock new areas and chests.
• Play the Lucky Panel: Once you reach Pilgrim’s Perdition in the Alltrades Abbey region, you can play the Lucky Panel minigame. It’s a simple memory match game that rewards you with fantastic items for high scores.

The Heart of the Game: The Vocation System

The job system, known as Vocations, unlocks a good while into the game when you reach Alltrades Abbey. This is where your characters’ true potential is realized.

Your First Steps with Vocations
When you first unlock the system, you’ll have access to Basic Vocations like Warrior, Priest, Mage, and Martial Artist. It’s tempting to switch everyone immediately, but be careful.

• Stagger Your Changes: A character who just switched to a new Vocation will start from scratch with few abilities, making them very weak. To avoid crippling your party, only change one or two characters at a time, keeping the others in their established roles to carry the team while the newbies learn the ropes.
• Balance is Key: A party of all Warriors hits hard but can’t heal. Having a dedicated healer (like a Priest) is non-negotiable, as revival items are very rare. Priests also have offensive magic, so they’re not useless when everyone is healthy.
• Keep a Healer: Speaking of which, always keep at least one character trained in healing magic. Revival spells like Zing are your only reliable way to bring back fallen allies.

The Game-Changer: Moonlighting
Later, after recruiting the party member Aishe, you’ll unlock the Moonlighting feature. This allows a character to equip two Vocations at the same time, gaining the skills and stat bonuses of both. This is where you can create incredible hybrid classes, like a Mage who can also heal, or a Warrior who can cast powerful buffs.

• Pro Tip: This also changes the strategy for using Seeds of Proficiency, items that grant Vocation experience. Save them until you have Moonlighting, because using a Seed while in two Vocations will grant proficiency to both at the same time, doubling its effectiveness.

Long-Term Growth: The Seed Philosophy

Throughout your journey, you’ll find stat-boosting items like Seeds of Strength or Seed of Proficiency (which boosts Vocation XP). Do not use them right away. It is highly recommended to save them for the late game. Once you have your final party composition and have unlocked advanced Vocations through Moonlighting, you can use your saved seeds to optimize your characters perfectly. The Hero is a safe bet for investment, as he is the one character who stays with you from beginning to end.

Now, Commander, you have the tools. The world is waiting to be restored. Enjoy the journey, and may you find many Mini Medals along the way.